Martinez

This case involves a controversial subject: persons unlawfully present in this country. The California Legislature has provided that unlawful aliens are exempt from paying nonresident tuition at California state colleges and universities under certain circumstances. (Ed. Code, § 68130.5 (section 68130.5).) Congress has prohibited the states from making unlawful aliens eligible for postsecondary education benefits under certain circumstances. ( 8 U.S.C. § 1623 (section 1623).) Plaintiffs challenge section 68130.5’s validity, largely on the basis that it violates section 1623. Defendants argue section 68130.5 complies with federal law.

This court has received many briefs making policy arguments for and against section 68130.5’s tuition exemption. We have received arguments that section 68130.5 affords deserving students educational opportunities that would not otherwise be available and, conversely, arguments that it flouts the will of Congress, wastes taxpayers’ money, and encourages illegal immigration. But this court does not make policy. Whether Congress’s prohibition or the Legislature’s exemption is good policy is not for us to say. Rather, we must decide the legal…